Your View on President Bush

[ilbob]

We had a choice to make between truly awful and merely mediocre. We elected the less offensive choice in the last two presidential elections.

For you Bush bashers out there, I can't even imagine what you would be saying if Gore or Kerry was president. Presidents are human beings like the rest of us. Bush seems like a truly decent fellow, who just cannot play the hardball politics well enough to be remembered as a great politician. His political experience was in Texas, and he governed there pretty well, because it is a weak governor state. The presidency is not a weak position, and someone not used to wielding power arbitrarily probably has a tough time doing so when it is necessary.

I can't imagine any president doing a whole lot better given the cut and run attitude of the far left that pervades the mainstream media these days.

Personally, I fault him most for not dealing very harshly with the intelligence agencies that got us into the mess in Iraq with their typically bad advice and information. This country needs better spies and better spy analysts, and until we figure that out, we are doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over.

 

[Tim James]

This poll sums up the state of political discourse in our country.

It gives you two choices: great and horrible. Yeah... about that...

 

[vis-à-vis]

I am ashamed to have voted for him.

 

[budney]

For you Bush bashers out there, I can't even imagine what you would be saying if Gore or Kerry was president.

I have Bush to thank that I've changed, in the last six years, from a staunch conservative to a libertarian.

Overall, I'd have to barf every time Gore or Kerry opened his mouth--but on the bright side, they would probably have gotten little done. Although both want completely socialized medicine, I don't think either of them would have the balls to put through the Great Drug Giveaway(tm) that Bush did.

As for the Forever War on Terror(tm), I doubt Gore or Kerry would have done anything but talk. That's obviously dead wrong. Then again, Bush's decision to launch his disastrous war in Iraq was equally wrong. We were told to choose between a wimp and a maniac. That's pretty much a coin toss.

--Len.

 

[illEagle]

Is it just me or are there others who are sick and tired of voting AGAINST a canidate rather than FOR one. I'd like for once (since Regan) to have a politician worthy of votes. Always remember. the lesser of two evils is still evil!

 

[GeezerwithGuns]

Yes, I voted for Bush.....twice as the FAR lesser of two evils and I would do it again. The Republican party of today can no longer be termed "conservative" in my mind - They only offer another version of the big government high taxes model.

Horrors.....I may be closer philosophically to the Libertarian party (except on a couple of key issues)

 

[budney]

Is it just me or are there others who are sick and tired of voting AGAINST a candidate rather than FOR one.

Absolutely. Bush/Kerry and Bush/Gore arguments all boil down to: would you rather be clubbed or stabbed? How have we come to this?

 

[nvshooter]

I support him in all aspects, save for that idiocy with the illegal aliens. I am glad beyond words that it went down in flames. I have a five year-old nephew from Vietnam and a three year-old niece from China. My brother and his wife went there and rescued these adorable little kids from a hopeless life under Communism. To have these kids in 20-25 years find themselves sending 80% of their income to Washington to support 350-400 million Mexican fence-jumpers who cannot read, write or speak English; have no employment skills and essentially do nothing more than provide an iron-tight voting bloc for the Democrats in return for a never-ending ride on the welfare gravy train, is outrageous. My little relatives, as well as all Americans now coming up, deserve a chance at the quality of life we had as kids and young adults. If we flood ourselves with millions and millions of welfare cases who demand this and demand that because they are some "protected minority," where will it lead us? Who will work if just about everything they earn is siphoned off to support a vast horde of people who do nothing but suck the blood from the country like a spider sucks the bodily juices from a fly it has caught in its web?

You know how a spider kills its prey? It first injects the fly with its venom, the fly dies and the venom rots the body into a soggy, drippy mess. The spider comes back later and sucks up the spongy innards of the fly for dinner. The analogy is clear. The illegals inject millions of themselves into the US, our culture degrades and we become a dispirited, disjointed shadow of our former selves. We sink deeper and deeper into social decay. When the decay has gone far enough along, our country is taken over by the gazillions of Mexicans who have come here illegally and you wake up one morning in Amerexico. Can you imagine a Congress made up of 75-80% American-born children of illegal Mexican immigrants? Where would their allegiance lie? To the US? Or to Mexico? Ever heard of Azatlan?

I am all for LEGAL immigration. If you want to come here to work, make a better life for yourself and your kids and earn your piece of the American dream, then do it. But do it legally. Don't break in, assemble in the tens of thousands, wave Mexican flags on my soil, then demand rights you don't have. It might be said that those demonstrations last year and all those Mexican flags had something to do with yesterday's defeat of the amnesty bill. I remember the pictures on TV. I'll bet a lot of other Americans do, too. It was an insult to see that. I was outraged. I feel better today...

 

[rdhood]

He got NOTHING done on the impending SS and welfare crisis

He got NOTHING done on securing our borders

He got NOTHING done on getting rid of illegal alien criminals in our midst. While a lot of illegals are here working jobs and taking care of families, a full 10% or more are here just to prey on American citizens.

He spent more money and showed less fiscal constraint than any president in the history of this country.

While he took the war to our enemy, he had no plan for finishing the job. While he understands the nature of terrorism, he has absolutely no understanding of the nature of tribalism. The minute we leave Iraq, the place will fall in to chaos.

In the name of "security", he eroded rights of citizens far more than any president in the recent past.

Part of Bush's failure can be placed squarely on the shoulders of the Republican party. They squandered a period when they controlled government.

His has not been a good presidency.

 

[seansean]

Bush is the worst president ever, by far. It's not even close. He doesn't stand for any of the things he said he stood for. He's a liar, a warmongerer, and he is such a failure of a human being he let other people in his administration hold the true reigns of power(Cheney and the neocons) and lead us into an unwinnable war....he bends over for big business(cheap labor, anyone?), and Israel(hmm, lets send them billions, and neglect our own infrastructure, and hey, let's fight a war largely on their behalf while we're at it), regardless of the effect it has on the american people..he is an idiot, and this country is far worse off because of him and the neocons...and he got a lot of you to support him against your own self-interests, and the interests of america. And a lot of you still do. One thing these clowns are good at-propaganda. They could sell ice to eskimos, and make them buy an extended car warranty on an Iditterod dogsled..never seen anything like it, and I hope I never do again...was he a good president... NO

 

[deadin]

Vote for again???

What if he came out as unequivocally and verifiably pro RKBA?? (No other changes)

 

[Elza]

I really don't know how to vote in the poll. I was supportive in the first election, voted for the lesser of two evils in the second. No way in #$%^ would I vote for him now.

 

[cookekdjr]

We were told to choose between a wimp and a maniac. That's pretty much a coin toss.
I'd hardly call Kerry a maniac. A little left for my taste, but no way a maniac. Bush, OTOH, is both a wimp (failed to show for guard duty, for example) and a complete maniac about Iraq and the war on tur. -David

 

[budney]

Cookekdjr,

Kerry's response to terrorism would most likely be wimpy--though he might do like Clinton and lob a few retaliatory cruise missiles. Bush may personally be a wimp, but as you say, he has been a complete maniac in power.

--Len.

 

[BigG]

Second guessing

dumb - dumb dumb dumb

How can you compare what conditions are now with what may have resulted from Gore or Kerry ? This is a total waste of time.

 

[CannonFodder]

I voted for Bush in 2000.
Man, I regret that badly.

 

[Tommygunn]

Bush, OTOH, is both a wimp (failed to show for guard duty, for example)

Hmmmm, some people out there are still believing that Dan Blather cr@pol@.

I voted for Dubya twice. I didn't vote on this poll as I didn't see a selection that matches what I believe. He's neither a great president or a horrible one.

I always love reading remarks that "Bush has no plans to win the war in Iraq." No battle plan has ever survived first contact with the enemy ... and has gone down roads no one planned or foresaw. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor no one in the government even knew what a nuclear weapon was ... don't think FDR was planning to nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki on December 8, 1941.
Bush has ignored sound military lessons in Iraq though; that is true -- what's worse is his generals had to have done this too. He didn't put enough men there. You always need more soldiers to "keep" what you've taken than to "take" in the first place.

He has been a good president for our economy; lowering taxes has spurred the economy. Aside from what some have asserted it was not Bush who raised the price of gasoline -- that was the speculators who make $$$ on futures and other such garbage -- as well as the fact we haven't expanded our refining capacity in a generation.
Security is a mixed bag. From what I've heard we've stopped 40-50 terrorist attacks in the past 5 years, which is good (sure as heck beats Clinton's measely record) but the southern border is wide open and Bush's policies will do zippo about that.
Bad? Spending....yes, he is a big spender. Think Democrats will be better? I think they're only angry about it because it' isn't them who are spending it.
Oh well ... in about 18 months Queen Hitlary the First will take over, and it'll all be over ... the good ... the bad .... and will be zipping down the road to kommunism like happy little sheeple.... (Wretch).

 

[cookekdjr]

My view on Bush:

Worst. President. Ever.

Fought a war we didn't need, at the expense of one we had to win. And are losing. Gave credibility to terrorist lunatics by invading a Muslim country for no good reason. Got us into Iraq based on lies, when he planned to invade from the very beginning. And of course, his administration's friends at Haliburton are making a killing off of our soldiers' dying.
Officially sanctioned torture and warrantless spying, and prison without trial or evidence (but God help you if you are a soldier and actually do to prisoners as you are told; you will go to jail). He has politicized the Justice Department. Only the most loyal Republicans need apply. Or stay.
Foreigners don't trust us anymore. Nor should they. And we shouldn't trust us either.
His corruption and duplicity and renouncement of our basic freedoms (all the while invoking the name of God) have damaged our country beyond what any president has ever done. Never mind the shrinking middle class, the increased gap between rich and poor, and the simultaneous growth of the very rich and working poor. Sure, unemployment is low, but more people work 2 or more jobs for a substandard wage now than when he took office. The average worker makes less than he did in 2001.
Worst. President. Ever.
But I do get to have hi-cap mags for my Glock so I guess that makes him better than Kerry.
-David

 

[budney]

I always love reading remarks that "Bush has no plans to win the war in Iraq."

Me too. No plans? He planned the war even before 9/11. As for the current situation, it only looks like a failure if you think the war was about reducing the threat of terrorism. If you realize that it's about funneling billions into the defense industry and other government contractors, as well as providing American oil companies entré into Iraqi oil fields, you'll quickly see that it's been a swimming success.

--Len.

 

[RIDE]

Immediately following Sept. 11th, I thought he did a great job rallying the nation together, etc... but now.. 6 years and a myriad of debacles later.... I can't wait for him to be gone.

I will say this though... Gore and Kerry would have NEVER received my vote... even today with hindsight involved.

 

[pcosmar]

Clinton also had plans to attack Iraq, before 911, and before Bush.

Me too. No plans? He planned the war even before 9/11. As for the current situation, it only looks like a failure if you think the war was about reducing the threat of terrorism. If you realize that it's about funneling billions into the defense industry and other government contractors, as well as providing American oil companies entré into Iraqi oil fields, you'll quickly see that it's been a swimming success.

And oil profits are up. Crude has gone from $20 to $70 a barrel.

 

[waffentomas]

Don't really like the poll options.

He's not been a great president, but better than any Democrat that party would likely run.

 

[Tommygunn]

Officially sanctioned torture and warrantless spying, and prison without trial or evidence

Since when has any torture been "officially sanctioned????" We have never issued warrants for spying -- especially in war -- ever. We didn't need them when we were intercepting Japanese and German communications in WW-2 and we shouldn't need them against Al-Qaeda now.
As for prison w/o trial or evidence ... to the degree it is happening agianst Americans, courts are shooting it down ... so even w/o a trial it's getting to court somehow.
If you're refering to the Gitmo POWs, we have never given POWs trials. The Gitmo detainees are no more deserving or needful of a trial than the Nazi POWs we held in WW-2.

His corruption and duplicity and renouncement of our basic freedoms

What "basic freedoms" are those? I have the same freedoms now that I had in 2000.

Never mind the shrinking middle class, the increased gap between rich and poor, and the simultaneous growth of the very rich and working poor.

Actually, the middle class is shrinking because many of the middle class are making it into the upper class. You make it sound like Bush evilly planned this, or his "incompetance" spawned it; the truth is these things fluctuate over time due to factors beyond the control of any president. If you want stability, you want a dictatorship; if you want instability, you want freedom.
The Soviet Union was stabile -- the down side was lack of freedom, and the near equal spreading of poverty and near poverty conditions.
If you think it's the president's job to do away with poverty, you're desiring something that has never be, can never be, and will never, ever be.

 

[budney]

What "basic freedoms" are those? I have the same freedoms now that I had in 2000.

You'd better thank God you aren't a "person of interest." Tell José Padilla how American citizens have the same freedoms they always had.

--Len.

 

[Tommygunn]

Hasn't Padilla been tried, or scheduled for a trial? Let's keep a little perspective; Padilla is not a good guy.
Sure he was held longer than he should have been.

As for prison w/o trial or evidence ... to the degree it is happening agianst Americans, courts are shooting it down ... so even w/o a trial it's getting to court somehow

.
Read what I wrote. The system is correcting itself.
It isn't where I'd like it to be; I'd like it to be where it was before the NFA of '34. Are you willing to pick up a gun right now and shoot it out? I'm not; we still get to vote. If you don't like our leaders use the ballot box.
If they take that away .... then we will both know it's likely time for the cartridge box.